The official Hamburg Twitter account posted a rather strange picture on Tuesday evening, just minutes after their 3-1 win over Schalke in the Bundesliga.

Presumably they were so delighted with a return to winning ways after a recent drought in front of goal, that they decided to trick their fans with a picture of Rafael van der Vaart alongside text saying he is on his way back to Tottenham.

The Dutch schemer missed the Hamburg win over Schalke due to injury that is likely to keep him out for a couple of weeks.

Van der Vaart became a fans favourite at White Hart Lane where he spent two seasons following a move from Real Madrid. In particular, VDV often stepped up to the plate in north London derbies and his creativity and eye for goal have been missed by Tottenham so far this season.

It seems highly unlikely that van der Vaart will be returning to Spurs any time soon with new boss Andre Villas-Boas keen on a faster playing style and with both Clint Dempsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson able to play in a similar position.

There were also strong rumours in the summer that Sylvie van der Vaart, Rafael’s wife, was keen to return to Germany where she has a TV career.

Spurs fans will have to dream about other incoming names (e.g. Joao Moutinho and Christen Eriksen) for what will likely be another frenzied transfer window in January.